


Isn't It Nice?

by ActualMercy



Series: XiaoDan Kanemaru [5]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Age Difference, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Honestly these two are just very loving, I have no other excuse, IT MAKES SENSE IF YOU READ THE SOURCE MATERIAL, Love, Loving Marriage, READ THE ORIGINAL WORK TO SEE WHY IT'S MENTIONED, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but it's mentioned, do your homework, the age difference is a... very minor thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23714827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActualMercy/pseuds/ActualMercy
Summary: "... Her hurt won’t last. Being together must be very nice. Leon’s here to help Xiao, that’s what marriage is." -i didn't have to call it loneliness
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Original Character(s), Dande | Leon/Original Female Character(s)
Series: XiaoDan Kanemaru [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707973
Kudos: 6





	Isn't It Nice?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ze_z_zi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ze_z_zi/gifts).



> If you want this to make sense, read the original Hanahaki AU written by [ze_z_zi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ze_z_zi/pseuds/ze_z_zi), "[i didn't have to call it loneliness](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23698930)" first.
> 
> This particular story is a branch-off that focuses on how Leon and XiaoDan responded to her outburst in the Battle Tower, and how even in her own bitterness, Ze was completely right about them.

**_I can't imagine it, but it's nice how Leon ignored how young you were when he proposed?_ **

The words echoed in her head even after Ze had left. The laugh that followed the other girl’s question echoed just as loudly, and it left XiaoDan unable to keep her thoughts together as she returned to her office and stared at the monitor of her computer. It had been a year since she became Leon’s wife, his secretary, and it had been over six years since she had moved to Galar. And yet, the words on the screen, on the papers strewn about her desk, seemed completely illegible.

For the remainder of the day, all she could think about was the last thing that her best friend had said to her after two weeks of radio silence, preceded by Ze hanging up on Leon when he had wanted to check up on her after XiaoDan herself couldn’t seem to fall asleep the previous night. How could she, when her friend was so sick on the night of their anniversary party that she had to leave early with the assistance of her father?

Time had passed all too quickly that day, because by the time words began to make even a hint of sense again, Leon was standing right at the doorway of her office with that dazzling smile of his that would always make her heart do a flip and race against her chest.

“Care to explain why you’re sitting here in the dark, Mrs. Chairman?” He always loved to tease her with that nickname, just as much as she would call him “Mr. Chairman” when he lost himself to his work. “I don’t remember approving you for overtime, you know.”

For as much as he loved the Battle Tower, XiaoDan knew that Leon was always eager to leave as soon as the day was done with. It meant that they could spend the rest of their day together, without a wall between them. And, under most circumstances, she was just as enthusiastic to leave with him.

But this time, it was different.

Instead, the December bride found that she had been staring at her husband in a daze that she couldn’t seem to snap herself out of. She wasn’t certain what her face was reading, but it seemed to have been enough to catch his attention and get the man to leave his post to make his way to her side. The smile had disappeared from his face and was replaced with a more concerned look. It would be a lie to say that she was surprised to see Leon respond the way that he did, even when she had yet to utter a word of what was plaguing her mind. He was always an observant sort of person, despite how casual he liked to be: it was one of the many things she found herself falling for, when they first met.

“Something’s wrong.”

The words came not as an inquiry, but a statement. It was a statement that XiaoDan found herself nodding to, turning in her chair to face up at her husband as he knelt down to meet her eyes. She hadn’t always been a woman of many words, but now… Now it seemed especially difficult as jade met with gold and she felt him take her hands into his. It was always so comforting, to feel their fingers lace between each others’ and the warmth of his touch danced along the surface of her skin.

It was another one of the many things she found herself falling for, the more they met.

“... Did it matter to you?”

Her question was met with silence. First concern, then confusion furrowed his brow.

“Xiao, love, I don’t-”

“Did it matter to you, that I was seventeen and we had only been together for a month, when you proposed?”

The silence that fell over them was heavy, but eventually it was broken with an answer.

“I… It didn’t cross my mind, when I did.” He could remember the day that he had proposed, the day that he had woken up after the literal near end of the world and found her asleep at his side holding onto his hand for dear life. It was in that moment that he knew he wanted to be with her- wanted to live the rest of his life with her at his side and wake up every morning with her as the first thing he could see everyday.

“You were rash.”

“I was.”

There was certainty to his words, when he agreed with her. Leon had to admit, looking back on it… It really was quite stupid of him, to make such a hasty decision then and there to ask for her hand in marriage. But, he rode with it, and somehow he had been lucky enough that XiaoDan continued to stick by his side- even to this day. Granted, he also had to admit that his agreement didn’t bring any comfort to her worry.

One of his hands left hers to reach up towards her face, brushing away a stray hair that had fallen from behind her ear and tucking it back into place. In doing so, his thumb brushed ever so lightly against the fabric of her clip: one adorned with carnations that he had bought for her as a little gift to celebrate her birthday.

Since then, he’d always managed to catch a glimpse of it on her person- be it in her hair or neatly tucked against her blouse like a brooch. Leon always thought that she looked beautiful regardless of what she wore, but there was something about how the color red popped against the dark of her hair and the pale of her skin that made her exceptionally striking: like the first bloom of spring against snow. For a split second, he couldn’t stop himself from running his thumb against the silk flower one more time, his eyes closing for a long second to recall that clear memory of her smile as he decorated her hair with the gift.

It was one of the many things about her that he couldn’t stop himself from falling in love with, when they met.

“I was ready to accept whatever repercussions came my way, for being engaged to you. I really did mean everything I said back then, and I still do, XiaoDan.” It wasn’t often that he said her full name. He tried to recall the last time that he had done so. It was at their wedding, wasn’t it? Hand in hand, in front of all of their friends and loved ones, he could remember that her name rolled off his tongue alongside his vows, his promises. “I may have been hasty, but I wasn’t so daft as to think that we’d get away scot-free when word of us got out.”

And he was right: from the moment the news got out that Galar’s former champion was in a relationship, paparazzi were swarming around XiaoDan’s DayCare like combee to honey. He could recall the day it happened, that he had missed a call from her during a meeting to coordinate what now stood as the Battle Tower.

It was a moment too long; by the time he had gotten to Route 5 with Charizard, he couldn’t even get in through the back entrance with how many of them were surrounding the building, clamoring to speak to her. Had it not been for her Corviknight working side by side with Charizard to scare them away, Leon would never have been able to get inside at all. He had lost her that day, and into the night. It was one of the scariest hours of his life, seeing her fall apart and become so small against him.

“I love you, XiaoDan. If you wanted to wait, we could have. I would wait even if Dialga itself told me to stop.”

He cradled her face against his palm, the memory fresh in his mind as he looked up at her and watched long lashes cast dark shadows against the pale of her cheeks. Even now, when he was knelt before her, she seemed so small against him. And without a second thought, XiaoDan found herself leaning into his touch. She could never seem to stop herself from wanting more of him, could she? Though, it wasn’t as if that were a problem: more like the opposite of one, in fact.

“N-No, no. I… I know that we could have waited,” she whispered, her hand covering his as she closed her eyes and fought against the heat growing at the back of her eyes to warn of incoming tears. “I wanted to be with you just as much. I was just as impulsive, and I did not care because I would be with  _ you _ . But…”

“But?” He didn’t like this at all. “Love, why are you asking this  _ now _ of all times?”

“Ze, she-.”

Her words cut short just as his thoughts did- the memory still fresh of what had happened earlier that day when he asked her into his office, when he wanted so badly to know for himself, for XiaoDan, what was going on. He had known that Ze was ill, but he didn’t realize just  _ how  _ ill until he saw her entering his office and found that her uniform was fitting differently and her face looked more gaunt than he remembered. He didn’t realize how ill she was until he saw the blood on the back of his hand as she stormed out of his office, and then more of it in front of XiaoDan when he followed after the sound of manic laughter to find his wife standing before the elevator that Ze had rushed to disappear in.

“I still don’t get it, love.” What did seeing Ze have anything to do with what she was asking him now?

“I…” Why, all of a sudden, was it becoming so hard to speak? Her voice caught in her throat, words lost for an all too long moment as she took a deep breath and tried to find what composure hadn’t yet crumbled away over the course of the day. Was it because she was upset at Ze, or was she upset at herself? Or, perhaps, she was upset at the fact that her husband was put into question after they had already promised themselves to each other. Yes, that seemed to be the thought that made her heart hurt the most. “She stated how nice it must have been, that you did not consider my age when you proposed- that you did not consider how young I was.”

Her fingers laced through his, wanting to keep that warmth of his palm to her cheek and use that little bit of happiness she felt to try and stop herself from crying. And yet, even with her eyes closed, she couldn’t seem to stop those tears from falling. 

Even with her eyes closed, Leon could see that it was hurting XiaoDan, to recall such a thing that her dearest friend had said after nothing but silence.

In that moment, silence was all he, himself, could respond with. His head was filled with thoughts, filled with questions as it sunk into him just what had been plaguing his beloved for the remainder of the day after seeing Ze.

The first thing to cross his mind was disbelief: had Ze really been the one to plant that sort of question in her mind? Once the disbelief had settled, hurt came next: did he really seem like that sort of person, to want to take advantage of XiaoDan’s youth- of  _ her _ ? Before he could even find an answer to either of those questions, confusion forced itself into his mind. He had been completely ready for the repercussions of being engaged to someone that was essentially still a minor: being Galar’s Champion meant attention, both positive and negative, whether he liked it or not. Yet, by some stroke of luck, no form of media or press seemed to question their relationship beyond how they met and when the wedding would be, what their plans were then and after they would be wed since he lived in Wyndon and she on Route 5.

Was it just sheer luck, then, that for two years the question of how young XiaoDan was never popped up?

Leon wanted answers, but it wasn’t his place to get them: not after he had already tried and was met with the events of today. So, instead, perhaps he could at least bring his wife peace in one way and ease her mind as best as he could.

“Hey, hey,” he cooed, his thumb wiping against her cheek to clear away the tears that couldn’t seem to stop themselves from falling. “Look at me, Xiao. Please?”

It took a moment, but eventually she was able to do as he asked and opened her eyes. Jade found themselves looking straight into pools of warm gold, and XiaoDan couldn’t stop from giving a little smile and a laugh at herself as she realized perhaps just how silly it was that she was crying over something so… Trivial. Or, at least, it should have been- if her heart hadn’t felt that it was something to fret over.

“I love you, XiaoDan.” Leon couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he said those words, standing from where he knelt so that he could stand over her and lean down to let their lips meet in a kiss; tender and sweet, just as she was to him, and just as he wanted to be with her. “I love you so, so much- to the end of the world and back and twice more if I have to prove it.”

Another kiss: longer, this time, as if he wanted to pour every ounce of his love into that single motion. Just like their first kiss together; just like their first kiss as a husband and wife; just like every kiss he wanted to shower her with so that she could be filled with nothing but his love, their love.

When finally they parted, he couldn’t stop himself from going quiet- in the dark of her office, against the light of the moon, her smile was positively glowing. “I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I asked you to marry me. If I was an idiot to propose to you when you were seventeen, when we’d just been together for a month, then I’ll proudly hold the title as the King of Idiots above my head if it means I can still be with you for the rest of our lives.”

His words were genuine, and it was enough to bring another smile to XiaoDan’s face- one that was more happy, this time, instead of embarrassed. A giggle bubbled in her chest and decorated the air as she felt his lips fall onto hers once more, the scratch of his beard tickling her and stealing more laughter as he smiled with her and pulled away.

“Then call me the Queen of Idiots, I suppose.”

“Well, my Queen,” the words were teasing as he stepped back to pull the taller girl out of her seat, his hands leaving hers so that he could rest one at her back and the other behind her legs to sweep her up into his arms. The first time he did this when they were dating, it was enough to make her squeal against him; complaining that she was taller, that she was too heavy, that he would hurt himself.

Even two years later, after proving time and time again that he could easily pick her up and walk around without an issue, she still gave the same adorable reaction. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he heard that little voice of hers raise for just a moment, followed by that chiming laughter as she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his shoulder. For someone the media kept introducing as a “cool beauty”, she certainly hit all the marks of a cute wife, in his book. “What do you say we go back to our castle and call it a day, hm?”

It was a good while before she could answer, her words lost against laughter as her husband took advantage of the moment to nuzzle his face against her neck; peppering kisses against her skin and tickling her with his beard. Leave it to Leon, to know how to pull her out of her thoughts and bring her back to now, to looking forward with him at her side. It was yet another thing she couldn’t stop herself from falling for, as they were together.

“Anything you say, my King.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you did the assigned reading because if not you just dug your own grave by spoiling part of the story and also potentially not understanding anything about this story lol


End file.
